From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
A Kano State High Court presided by Justice Suleiman Baba Namallam has restrained the Government of Kano State from blocking or erecting structures at any part of Taambu and Bayajidda Streets at the popular Kantin Kwari textile market, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
The ex parte order restrained Kano State Urban Planning and Development Authority (KNUPDA) and Kano State Bureau for Land Management as well as Raz Construction and Technical Limited severally or jointly or any person whomsoever from doing or allowing to be done anything that will obstruct or tamper with the applicants’ rights of easement into or out of their landed property at Taambu and Bayajidda Street on Kantin Kwari Market.
Justice Namallam also ordered all parties in the suit to maintain the status quo pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.
The order followed an application brought before the court by Barrister Abba Hakima Fagge on behalf of the applicants, which included Shehu Bukar Makoda, Yusuf Alasan, Auwalu Buhari, Kabiru Ismaila, Salihu Baita and Incorporated Trustees of Kwari Small and Medium Scale Traders Association, Kano.
The judge fixed August 19 for a hearing of the motion on notice.
Concerned traders had earlier complained to reporters in the state that the said construction would put their businesses and livelihoods at risk, saying they feared that they would invariably be evicted from their property upon the completion of the structure.
They had further alleged that the foundation of the said construction was done in the middle of the night by government agents or proxies, a clear indication that the state government was aware of the unpopularity of the act.